JP6612661B2 - Accumulator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for accumulating workpieces in a production line.

  Conventionally, in a production line, an accumulator that functions as a buffer that prevents the upstream apparatus from being stopped due to a delay in processing of the downstream apparatus by temporarily accumulating workpieces supplied from the upstream apparatus is known. It has been. This accumulator supplies the work supplied from the upstream apparatus to the downstream apparatus without accumulating when the downstream apparatus is operating normally, and processes the work on the work of the downstream apparatus. When the speed, that is, the work receiving speed becomes slower than the supply speed of the upstream apparatus or when the process is stopped, the work is accumulated.

  As such an accumulator, in general, a work from an upstream device is received in a plurality of buckets conveyed by an endless belt conveyor, and when the downstream device operates normally, the accepted work is removed from the bucket. 2. Description of the Related Art A bucket conveyor type accumulator that discharges and transports it to a downstream apparatus and accumulates the work in the apparatus without discharging the work when an abnormality occurs in the downstream apparatus is known.

  Also, workpieces on the production line need to have a constant processing order from upstream to downstream in order to facilitate lot management. In this case, workpieces are first-in-first-out, that is, downstream in the order of supply from upstream equipment. The accumulator is required to discharge the work to the other apparatus.

  In addition, as a related technique, a first pocket and a second pocket arranged in the circumferential direction of the rotary table are provided, and the container is supplied to the first pocket to be held, and is provided corresponding to the first pocket. In addition, the first molding head performs the first molding process on the container supplied to the first pocket, and the container subjected to the first molding process is conveyed by the rotary table while being held in the first pocket. Subsequently, the container subjected to the first molding process is transferred to the second pocket adjacent to the first pocket by the relay means, and then the container is transported beyond the container supply position with respect to the first pocket. A container processing apparatus that performs a second molding process on a container by a second molding head provided corresponding to the second pocket is known (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-254090 A

  However, according to the bucket conveyor type accumulator, the downstream device where the abnormality occurred returns to the normal state, and when the accumulated workpieces are discharged in the order of acceptance from the upstream device, the first received workpiece is discharged. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes time to shift from the accumulating operation for accumulating the workpiece to the conveying operation for conveying the workpiece to the downstream apparatus.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an accumulator that can shift from an accumulation operation to a transport operation in a shorter time.

  In order to solve the above problems, an accumulator according to the present embodiment is an accumulator that is provided between an upstream device and a downstream device in a production process, and carries a work from the upstream device to an downstream device, A holding unit that holds the workpiece and can be moved around includes a plurality of transfer units arranged in the rotation direction. The workpiece is transferred between the plurality of transfer units from the upstream device side to the downstream device side. A transport unit that can be transported to the plurality of transport units, a drive unit that is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of transport units, and that can be driven to change the rotation direction of each transport unit, and the transport unit that controls the drive unit, And a controller that selectively performs an operation of discharging the work held in the storage unit and an operation of accumulating the work held in the transport unit.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to shift from the accumulation operation to the transport operation in a shorter time.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the accumulator apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a container by making the left side of a center line into a side view, and making a right side into sectional drawing. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the container stack formed of a stack formation part. It is a schematic side view which shows the structure of an accumulator. It is a schematic rear view which shows the structure of an accumulator. It is a schematic front view which shows the structure of an accumulator apparatus. It is a schematic side view which shows the structure of each conveyance unit. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a control apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a control apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the whole process of a control apparatus. It is the schematic which shows the conveyance operation of a conveyance unit. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a storage process. It is the schematic which shows the accumulation operation of a conveyance unit. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a transfer process. It is the schematic which shows discharge operation | movement of a conveyance unit. It is the schematic which shows the defragmentation operation | movement of a conveyance unit.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, an outline of the accumulator according to the present embodiment, a container stack that is the object of conveyance and accumulation will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an accumulator device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the container with the left side of the center line as a side view and the right side as a cross-sectional view. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a container stack formed by the stack forming unit.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an accumulator 1 according to the present embodiment receives a container 90 (not shown) as a work carried from an upstream device 2 that is an upstream device in a production line, and a downstream device. The container stack 9 formed from the plurality of containers 90 is carried out to the downstream device 3. In addition, the accumulator 1 forms a container stack 9 from a plurality of containers 90 and a stack transport unit 10 that transports and accumulates the container stack 9 (not shown), a control device 20 that controls the operation of the stack transport unit 10. A stack forming unit 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the container 90 as a work has a bottom portion 91 configured in a circular shape and a side wall 92 formed in a tapered shape so as to be reduced in diameter toward the bottom portion 91. A circular opening 93 is defined at the upper end of the opening, and a flange 94 is formed around the opening so as to protrude in the outer diameter direction of the opening. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the container stack 9 is configured such that the bottom portion 91 of the container 90 is inserted into the opening 93 of another container 90 by stacking a plurality of containers 90 in the vertical direction of the container 90. Formed by. The container stack 9 has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole because the opening 93 of the container 90 is circular.

  Next, the configuration of the stack conveyance unit and the stack formation unit in the accumulator will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the accumulator device. FIG. 5 is a schematic rear view showing the configuration of the accumulator device. FIG. 6 is a schematic front view showing the configuration of the accumulator device. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of each transport unit.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the stack transport unit 10 is positioned below the stack forming unit 30, and the container stack 9 formed by the stack forming unit 30 can be input from above.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the stack forming unit 30 includes a housing 31 that is configured to be long so that the container stack 9 can be accommodated, and a reverse driving unit 32 that rotates the housing 31. The reversal drive unit 32 is in a first state in which the longitudinal direction of the housing 31 is oriented in a vertical direction perpendicular to the installation surface of the accumulator 1, or a second state in which the longitudinal direction is rotated by 90 ° with respect to the first state. Thus, the housing 31 is rotated and reversed. In the housing 31, the container stack 9 can be formed inside the container 90 when the container 90 carried in from the upstream device 2 is thrown into the opening formed at one end in the longitudinal direction in the first state. Yes. Further, the stack forming unit 30 can drop the container stack 9 rotated by 90 ° in the second state from above and put it into the stack conveying unit 10 below. In the following description, the direction in which the vertical direction of the container stack 9 in the second state faces is the left-right direction.

  The stack transport unit 10 treats the container stack 9 as a single workpiece, carries the container stack 9 thrown in from above into the downstream device 3 that normally operates, and when the abnormality occurs in the downstream device 3, the container stack 9 4 to 7, a plurality of covers provided corresponding to each of the plurality of transport units 11a to 11c, the plurality of inclined portions 17a to 17d, and the plurality of transport units 11a to 11c. Plates 18a-18c are provided. Hereinafter, when a configuration common to the transport units 11a to 11c is described, it is simply referred to as the transport unit 11. Similarly, the inclined portions 17a to 17d and the cover plates 18a to 18c are referred to as the inclined portion 17 and the cover plate 18, respectively.

  Each of the transport units 11a to 11c is arranged in the order of the transport unit 11a, the transport unit 11b, and the transport unit 11c from above in the vertical direction, and the transport unit 11a and the transport unit in the front-rear direction that is perpendicular to the vertical direction and the left-right direction. The transport unit 11b is arranged at a different position with respect to 11c. In addition, the transport units 11a to 11c are transported in the order of the most upstream transport unit 11a, the transport unit 11b, and the most downstream transport unit 11c in the transport direction of the container stack 9 in the stack transport unit 10. In the following description, the transport unit 11b side in the front-rear direction is referred to as the rear, and the transport unit 11a and transport unit 11c sides are referred to as the front.

  The transport unit 11 includes a rotation shaft 120 extending in the left-right direction, a rotation drive unit 130 that rotates the rotation shaft 120 in a normal rotation direction or a reverse rotation direction, which will be described later, and a substantially circular shape in which the axial direction and the height direction of the rotation shaft 120 are parallel. A main body 110 that is columnar and rotates integrally with the rotation shaft 120 is provided. In addition, the main body 110 is provided corresponding to each of the four holding portions 111 for receiving and holding the container stack 9 and the four holding portions 111, and detects the container stack 9 accommodated in each holding portion 111. The four photoelectric sensors 112 are provided. The four holding portions 111 are located at different positions in the circumferential direction of the substantially cylindrical main body 110, and each holding portion 111 is a recess that opens in the opening direction D (see FIG. 7) that faces the outer diameter direction of the main body 110. As shown in FIG.

  Each holding part 111 is positioned at the axis of the rotating shaft 120 in the vertical direction and the container stack 9 when the opening direction D is inclined parallel or upward with respect to a virtual line L (see FIG. 7) facing the front-rear direction. In addition, when the opening direction D is inclined downward, the container stack 9 can be discharged by rolling in the circumferential direction of the opening 93 of the container 90. In the following description, a position where the holding unit 111 can receive the container stack 9 is referred to as a holding position, and a position where the holding unit 111 can discharge the container stack 9 is referred to as a discharge position. The holding position and the discharge position are arranged at a position where the holding unit 111 adjacent to the holding unit 111 is in the discharging position when a certain holding unit 111 is in the holding position. Therefore, the rotation angle of the transport unit 11 when it is set to the discharge position can be reduced, and the transport unit 11 can be operated efficiently.

  The inclined portions 17a to 17d are arranged in the order of the inclined portion 17a, the inclined portion 17b, the inclined portion 17c, and the inclined portion 17d from the top in the vertical direction. In the front-rear direction, the inclined portion 17a is inclined rearward of the transport unit 11a. The portion 17b is arranged between the conveyance unit 11a and the conveyance unit 11b, the inclined portion 17c is arranged between the conveyance unit 11b and the conveyance unit 11c, and the inclined portion 17d is arranged behind the conveyance unit 11c.

  The inclined portion 17 is formed with a transport surface having a predetermined length in the front-rear direction and having a length equal to or greater than the vertical height of the container stack 9 in the width direction parallel to the left-right direction. The conveying surface is inclined so that one front or rear end in the front-rear direction is positioned below, and the container stack 9 is laid down, that is, the vertical direction of the container stack 9 and the width direction of the inclined portion 17 are In the parallel state, the container stack 9 is transported and guided to the transport unit 11 by rolling in the circumferential direction of the opening 93 of the container 90 by the inclination. Here, the container stack 9 is specifically guided to the holding unit 111 that can receive the container stack 9 in the transport unit 11.

  The inclined portion 17a is inclined such that the front end of the inclined surface thereof is inclined downward so that the container stack 9 thrown by the stack forming portion 30 from above the stack conveying portion 10 can be guided to the conveying unit 11a. Further, the inclined portion 17b is inclined such that the rear end portion of the inclined surface thereof is inclined downward so that the container stack 9 discharged from the conveying unit 11a can be guided to the conveying unit 11b. Further, the inclined portion 17c is inclined such that the front end portion of the inclined surface thereof is inclined downward so that the container stack 9 discharged from the transfer unit 11b can be guided to the transfer unit 11c. In addition, the inclined portion 17d is configured such that the rear end portion of the inclined surface thereof is inclined downward so that the container stack 9 discharged from the transfer unit 11c can be discharged from the stack transfer portion 10 and carried out to the downstream device 3. A photoelectric sensor 19 capable of detecting the container stack 9 is provided in the vicinity. When the processing speed of the downstream device 3 is slower than usual, or when the downstream device 3 is stopped, that is, when processing of the container stack 9 or the container 90 forming the container stack 9 is abnormal in processing by the downstream device 3 The container stack 9 stays in the vicinity of the rear end of the inclined portion 17d without being conveyed to the downstream device 3.

  The cover plates 18a, 18b, and 18c are provided corresponding to the transport units 11a, 11b, and 11c, respectively. In order to prevent the container stack 9 from falling from the holding part 111 whose opening direction D in the transport unit 11 is inclined downward, the cover plate 18 is at least equal to or higher than the vertical height of the container stack 9 in the width direction parallel to the left-right direction. It has a length and is formed so as to cover a part in the circumferential direction along the side surface of the main body 110 of the transport unit 11.

  In this way, by adopting a configuration in which a plurality of transport units each having a plurality of holding units can be controlled independently, the operation can be made different for each transport unit, and from the accumulation operation for accumulating workpieces in the apparatus. It is possible to control to shift to a transfer operation for transferring the workpiece to the downstream apparatus in a shorter time.

  Next, the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the control device will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the control device. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control device.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, the control device 20 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 201, a RAM 202, a storage device 203, and an input / output IF (Interface) 204 as hardware. The MPU 201 executes various functions described later in cooperation with the RAM 202. The storage device 203 stores various data related to the execution of functions. The input / output IF 204 is an interface for connecting to the inversion driving unit 32, the rotation driving unit 130, the photoelectric sensor 112, and the photoelectric sensor 19.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, the control device 20 includes a first determination unit 211, a first selection unit 212, a second selection unit 213, a second determination unit 214, and a control unit 215 as functions. The first determination unit 211 determines whether or not the container stack 9 has been carried out from the stack transport unit 10 to the downstream device 3, that is, whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the processing by the downstream device 3. The first selection unit 212 selects at least one transport unit 11 among the plurality of transport units 11. The second selection unit 213 selects the transport unit 11 adjacent to the upstream side in the transport direction in the stack transport unit 10 with respect to the transport unit 11 selected by the first selection unit 212. The second determination unit 214 determines the presence / absence of the container stack 9 in the holding unit 111 of the transport unit 11. The control unit 215 controls the operations of the inversion driving unit 32 and the rotation driving unit 130.

  Next, the entire process of the control device related to the stack transport unit will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the overall processing of the control device. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transport operation of the transport unit.

  As shown in FIG. 10, first, the first determination unit 211 determines whether or not the container stack 9 has been unloaded from the stack transport unit 10 (S101). Here, the first determination unit 211 determines whether or not the container stack 9 has been unloaded from the stack transport unit 10 when the photoelectric sensor 19 continues to detect the container stack 9 for a predetermined time or more. In addition, the 1st determination part 211 should just be able to determine the presence or absence of the process abnormality with respect to the container stack 9 by the downstream apparatus 3, for example, when the downstream apparatus 3 becomes abnormal, the control apparatus 20 receives that as a notification Accordingly, the abnormality of the downstream device 3 may be determined.

  When the container stack 9 is unloaded from the stack conveyance unit 10 (S101, YES), the first selection unit 212 selects all the conveyance units 11 in the stack conveyance unit 10 (S102), and the control unit 215 selects the first selection unit. The rotation drive unit 130 is controlled so that the transport unit 11 selected by 212 performs a transport operation described later (S103), and the first determination unit 211 again checks whether the container stack 9 has been transported from the stack transport unit 10 or not. Is determined (S101).

  Here, the transport operation will be described by taking the transport unit 11a as an example. As shown in FIG. 11, according to the transport operation, when at least one holding unit 111 is moved to the holding position and the second determination unit 214 determines that the container stack 9 is in the holding unit 111 at the holding position, The transport unit 11a is rotated forward by a predetermined angle, and the holding unit 111 at the holding position is moved to the discharge position. Further, according to the transport operation, when the second determination unit 214 determines that there is no container stack 9 in the holding unit 111 moved from the holding position to the discharge position, that is, the container stack 9 accommodated in the holding unit 111 is discharged. Then, the transport unit 11a is reversed by a predetermined angle, and the holding unit 111 at the discharge position is moved to the holding position.

  In FIG. 11, the holding position is a position where the holding unit 111 can receive the container stack 9 from the inclined portion 17 a on the upstream side with respect to the transport unit 11 a in the transport direction of the container stack 9 in the stack transport unit 10. . The discharge position is a position where the container stack 9 accommodated in the holding unit 111 can be discharged to the inclined portion 17b on the downstream side with respect to the transport unit 11a in the transport direction of the container stack 9 in the stack transport unit 10. It is.

  In step S101, when the container stack 9 is not carried out from the stack conveyance unit 10 (S101, NO), the control device 20 executes an accumulation process described later (S104), and thereafter executes a migration process (S105). The first determination unit 211 determines whether or not the container stack 9 has been unloaded from the stack transport unit 10 (S101).

  As described above, when all the transport units 11 perform the transport operation, the container stack 9 thrown into the stack transport unit 10 is transported in order from the most inclined part 17a in the transport direction in the stack transport unit 10. 11a, the inclined portion 17b, the conveying unit 11b, the inclined portion 17c, and the conveying unit 11c are conveyed to the most downstream inclined portion 17d, and the container stack 9 unloaded from the stack conveying portion 10 is supplied to the downstream device 3. .

  Next, the accumulation process will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the accumulation process. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating the accumulation operation of the transport unit.

  As illustrated in FIG. 12, first, the first selection unit 212 determines whether or not there is an unselected transport unit 11 in the accumulation process among the plurality of transport units 11 (S201).

  When there is an unselected transport unit 11 (S201, YES), the first selection unit 212 selects, from among the unselected transport units 11, the transport unit 11 located on the most downstream side in the transport direction in the stack transport unit 10. (S202). Next, the control unit 215 controls the rotation driving unit 130 so that the transport unit 11 selected by the first selection unit 212 performs an accumulation operation described later (S203), and transport that is not selected by the first selection unit 212. The rotation driving unit 130 is controlled so that the unit 11 performs the transport operation (S204). Note that the accumulation operation in step S203 and the transport operation in step S204 are performed in parallel.

  Here, the accommodating operation will be described using the transport unit 11c as an example. According to the accumulation operation, as shown in FIG. 13, when the container stack 9A is accommodated in the holding part 111 at the holding position, the holding part 111 adjacent in the circumferential direction to the holding part 111 in which the container stack 9A is accommodated The transport unit 11c is reversed by a predetermined angle so as to be in the holding position, and the next container stack 9B is accommodated. As described above, according to the accumulation operation, when the second determination unit 214 determines that the container stack 9 is in the holding unit 111 at the holding position, the conveyance unit 11c is rotated in the reverse direction unlike the conveyance operation. When the container stacks 9 are sequentially accommodated in this way, finally, the container stacks 9A to 9D arranged in the conveyance order in each of the four holding units 111 are arranged in the forward rotation direction of the container stacks 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D. They are sequentially stored and stored in the transport unit 11c.

  After the accumulation operation and the transfer operation are performed, the first determination unit 211 determines whether or not the container stack 9 has been unloaded from the stack transfer unit 10 (S205).

  When the container stack 9 is unloaded from the stack transfer unit 10 (S205, YES), the accumulation process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the container stack 9 is not carried out from the stack transfer unit 10 (S205, NO), the second determination unit 214 sets the container stack 9 in all the holding units 111 in the transfer unit 11 selected by the first selection unit 212. It is determined whether or not there is (S206).

  When the container stack 9 is present in all the holding units 111 (S206, YES), the control unit 215 stops the operation of the transport unit 11 selected by the first selection unit 212 (S207), and again the first selection unit 212. Determines whether or not there is an unselected transport unit 11 in the accumulation process (S201).

  On the other hand, when there is no container stack 9 in at least one holding unit 111 (S206, NO), the control unit 215 rotates the rotation driving unit so that the transport unit 11 selected by the first selection unit 212 performs the accumulation operation again. 130 is controlled (S203), and the rotation drive unit 130 is controlled so that the transport unit 11 not selected by the first selection unit 212 performs the transport operation (S204).

  In step S201, when there is no unselected transport unit 11 (S201, NO), the first determination unit 211 determines whether or not the container stack 9 has been unloaded from the stack transport unit 10 (S205).

  As described above, according to the accumulation process, the container stack 9 is accumulated by sequentially performing the accumulation operation from the conveyance unit 11 located on the most downstream side in the conveyance direction of the container stack 9 in the stack conveyance unit 10, and the container stack is accumulated. The other transport units 11 that are not present can be continuously transported, so that the container stack 9 can be received and stored at the same time.

  Next, the migration process will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the migration process. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating the discharging operation of the transport unit. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating the defragmentation operation of the transport unit.

  As shown in FIG. 14, first, the first selection unit 212 includes a transport unit 11 determined by the second determination unit 214 to hold the plurality of container stacks 9 in the holding unit 111 among the plurality of transport units 11. Whether or not (S301).

  When there is the transport unit 11 that holds the plurality of container stacks 9 in the holding unit 111 (S301, YES), the first selection unit 212 selects the transport unit 11 that holds the plurality of container stacks 9 in the holding unit 111 ( S302).

  Next, the second selection unit 213 includes, among the transport units 11 selected by the first selection unit 212, whether there is a transport unit 11 having a plurality of holding units 111 that are determined to be empty by the second determination unit 214. In other words, it is determined whether or not there is a transport unit 11 having a plurality of holding portions 111 that do not hold the container stack 9 while holding the plurality of container stacks 9 (S303).

  When there is a transport unit 11 with a plurality of holding units 111 determined to be empty by the second determination unit 214 (S303, YES), the second selection unit 213 has the transport unit 11 with a plurality of holding units 111 empty. Is selected (S304). Thereafter, the control unit 215 controls the rotation driving unit 130 so that the transport unit 11 selected by the first selection unit 212 (except for the one selected by the second selection unit 213) performs a discharge operation described later ( S305), the rotation driving unit 130 is controlled so that the transport unit 11 selected by the second selection unit 213 performs a defragmentation operation described later (S306), and the first selection unit 212 and the second selection unit 213 are not selected. If there is a selected transport unit 11, the rotation control unit 130 is controlled so that the transport unit 11 performs a transport operation (S307). Note that the discharging operation in step S305, the defragmenting operation in step S306, and the transporting operation in step S307 are performed in parallel. After the operations in steps S305 to S307, the first selection unit 212 determines again whether or not there is the transport unit 11 that holds the plurality of container stacks 9 in the holding unit 111 among the plurality of transport units 11 ( S301).

  Here, the discharge operation and the defragmentation operation will be described using the transport units 11c and 11b as examples. The discharging operation is an operation performed by the transport unit 11 in which the container stack 9 is accommodated in all the holding units 111 or only one holding unit 111 is empty. As shown in FIG. 15, according to the discharging operation, the container stack 9 accommodated in the order of the container stacks 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D in the normal rotation direction by the accumulation operation is reversed by the conveyance unit 11 and the accumulation operation is performed. Drain in the order of accommodation. The holder 111 from which the container stack 9 is discharged accommodates the container stack 9 that is sequentially moved to the holding position and discharged from the upstream transport unit 11. As long as processing is not delayed in the upstream apparatus 2, the transport unit 11 that performs the discharging operation always holds the container stack 9 in all the holding units 111 or only one holding unit 111 is empty. If the processing is delayed in the upstream apparatus 2, a plurality of holding units 111 are vacated in the transport unit 11 that performs the discharge operation, and the following defragmentation operation is performed.

  The defragmentation operation is an operation performed by the transport unit 11 in which the plurality of container stacks 9 are accommodated in the holding unit 111 and the plurality of holding units 111 are vacant. As shown in FIG. 16, first, the transport unit 11 is reversed, the holding unit 111 holding the container stack 9A previously accommodated is moved to the discharge position, and the container stack 9A is discharged. The holding part 111 adjacent to the holding part 111 in which the accommodated container stack 9B is accommodated in the forward rotation direction is moved to the holding position, and the container stack 9C is received in the holding part 111. As long as the processing is not delayed in the upstream apparatus 2, the transport unit 11 that performs the defragmentation operation discharges the container stack 9 accommodated first, and moves the holder 111 adjacent to the container stack 9 accommodated last in the forward rotation direction to the holding position. Repeat the movement. When the processing in the upstream device 2 is delayed and the container stack 9 accommodated first is not discharged, the number of holding portions 111 that hold the container stack 9 is one or less, and the above-described transport operation is performed.

  According to this defragmentation operation, the transport unit 11 performs a storage operation, and the container stack 9 is unloaded from the stack transport unit 10 and stored before the container stacks 9 are stored in all the holding units 111 of the transport unit 11. In the case where the process shifts from the process to the transition process, the container stack 9 is prevented from being stored in the holding unit 111 discontinuously. Here, the container stack 9 is stored non-continuously when the container stack 9 is sequentially stored in the holding unit 111 that is continuously arranged in a predetermined order. A state in which a so-called tooth missing occurs such that a new container stack 9 is accommodated in the holding part 111 following the empty holding part 111 in a state where the holding part 111 following the part 111 is empty is shown. When the transport unit 11 in the state where the missing teeth are shifted to the accumulation operation, the number of container stacks 9 that can be accumulated in the transport unit 11 is reduced as compared with the state where no missing teeth are generated. This can be prevented.

  If there is no transport unit 11 having a plurality of holding units 111 determined to be empty by the second determination unit 214 in step S303 (S303, NO), the operations of steps S305 to S307 are performed. The operation in step S306 is not performed because there is no transport unit 11 selected by the second selection unit 213.

  As described above, by receiving the above-described transfer operation, accumulation operation, discharge operation, and defragmentation operation for each of the plurality of transfer units depending on the state of the downstream device and the state of the transfer unit, the workpiece can be received from the upstream device. With the order kept, the work can be transported, stored, and discharged more efficiently and in a shorter time.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this embodiment is shown as an example and is not intending limiting the range of invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Accumulation apparatus 2 Upstream apparatus 3 Downstream apparatus 9 Container stack 10 Stack conveyance part 11 Conveyance unit 111 Holding part 130 Rotation drive part 211 1st determination part 214 2nd determination part 215 Control part

Claims (6)

An accumulator that is provided between an upstream device and a downstream device in a production process, carries workpieces from the upstream device and carries them out to the downstream device,
A holding unit that holds the workpiece and can be moved around includes a plurality of transfer units arranged in the rotation direction. The workpiece is transferred between the plurality of transfer units from the upstream device side to the downstream device side. A transport unit capable of transporting to
A drive unit that is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of transport units, and that can be driven to change the rotation direction of each transport unit; and
A controller that controls the drive unit and selectively performs an operation of discharging the work held in the transport unit and an operation of accumulating the work held in the transport unit ;
A first determination unit that determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the processing of the workpiece by the downstream device;
A second determination unit that determines whether or not a workpiece is held by a plurality of holding units in the transport unit;
When the first determination unit determines that no abnormality has occurred in the processing of the workpiece, the control unit moves the workpiece to the downstream device side based on the workpiece holding state determined by the second determination unit. An accumulator that controls a drive unit corresponding to each carry-in unit so as to carry out a carrying operation . When it is determined by the first determination unit that an abnormality has occurred in the workpiece processing,
The control unit holds the workpiece determined by the second determination unit from a conveyance unit provided at the most downstream side for carrying out the workpiece to the downstream device to a conveyance unit for carrying in the workpiece from the upstream device. The accumulator according to claim 1 , wherein the drive unit corresponding to each transport unit is controlled so as to perform a storing operation in which the loaded work is stored in the order of loading based on the state. Each of the transport units has three or more holding units,
When the first determination unit determines that no abnormality has occurred in the processing of the workpiece after the accumulation operation, the control unit determines that the second determination unit determines that the workpiece is not held by one or less holding units. The accumulator according to claim 2 , wherein the corresponding drive unit is controlled so as to perform a discharge operation for discharging the workpiece to the downstream device side in the order of accumulation by the accumulation operation. Each of the plurality of transport units has four or more holding units,
When the first determination unit determines that there is no abnormality in the workpiece processing after the accumulation operation, a first unit that selects a transport unit that holds a plurality of workpieces and that has a plurality of holding units that do not hold workpieces. 2 further comprising a selection unit,
When the first determination unit determines that there is no abnormality in workpiece processing after the accumulation operation, the control unit holds a plurality of workpieces by the second determination unit and does not hold workpieces For the transport units determined to be plural, the holding unit that follows the last workpiece in the accumulation order after discharging the first workpiece in the accumulation order by the accumulation operation, removes the workpiece from the upstream device side. The accumulator according to claim 3 , wherein the corresponding driving unit is controlled so as to perform the defragmenting operation to be held. When the first determination unit determines that there is no abnormality in the workpiece processing after the accumulation operation, the control unit determines that the second determination unit has one or less holding units for holding the workpiece. The accumulator according to claim 3 or 4 , wherein a corresponding drive unit is controlled so as to perform the transport operation for the transport unit that has been performed. Each transport unit accepts a workpiece from the upstream device side at a predetermined holding position into the holding unit, and discharges the workpiece in the holding unit at a predetermined discharge position to the downstream device side,
Said holding position and said discharge position, according to any one of claims 1 to 5 in which the holding portion adjacent to the holding portion in the holding position, characterized in that a position at which the discharge position Accumulator.

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